Post navigation

Lyrical Flow charts

I think it is a really cool way to analyse the structure of song lyrics. Ms Schofield reckons it is a good way to practise computational thinking. So year 4 – are you up to having a go at producing a flow chart to analyse the lyrics to Road to Tomorrow?

I think we should have a go doing it on paper and then we can ask Tech Tim if he can help us do it online.

Here are the lyrics to Road to Tomorrow

The Road To Tomorrow by Pete Churchill

VERSE 1
Many pathways have brought us together.
Many roads we have travelled so far.
For we all hear the call to follow our journeying star.
Now a new road is waiting before us.
Up ahead we can follow the sign,
And our journey begins in the moment our paths intertwine.

PRE-CHORUS
So walk towards the future in wide-eyed wonder
Who can say what magic you’ll find.
Don’t sit and wait ‘cause you may be too late,
And the future will leave you behind…….

CHORUS
There’s a road some can see called the road to tomorrow,
You can travel for free along the way.
But who knows what will be on the road to tomorrow some day.
Look ahead and be bold, take the road to tomorrow,
As you watch it unfold before your eyes.
Lift your head and behold where the road to tomorrow lies.

BRIDGE
For the road is as wide as our imagination,
And as long as our wonder will allow.
Ev’ry moment a chance for the future to find you somehow…
Let the moment be now.

VERSE 2
There are some who can live in the moment,
But for some life is moving too fast.
So they spend all their days trying to live out their life in the past.
But the best place to be for adventure,
Is that space on the edge of the day,
With a view to tomorrow and someone to show you the way.

PRE CHORUS, CHORUS and BRIDGE as above

We can also have a go looking at this verse of Mamma Mia

Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again?
My my, just how much I’ve missed you
Yes, I’ve been brokenhearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go?
Mamma mia, now I really know,
My my, I could never let you go.

You see where Mrs Schneider has just written “PRE CHORUS, CHORUS and BRIDGE as above”? Imagine if she had to write all the words out over and over again, wouldn’t that be hard work and take up too much space on a page? But you know exactly what to do when she writes those words don’t you?

Where the same thing is repeated, there is no point just writing it out over and over again. We can give it a name eg Chorus and just write “chorus” in the instructions. In programming we call this a “procedure”. You can practice these in a game here: http://light-bot.com/hoc.html.

I am so pleased you are going to have a go at this. I was thinking maybe an easy nursery rhyme but, oh no, St Teresa’s children start big! I will be really excited to check the blog later and see what you have been up to. Tim is looking forward to it too. Good luck everyone – look out for patterns, sequences, loops, repeats, procedures etc. Next term you will be learning to program in computing lessons and being able to recognise these and follow a flow chart will really help you.
A big thank you to Mrs Schenider for always helping me out and trying new ideas, aren’t you lucky to have her there?!